Ten years ago this week, on October 18, 2003, Animated Views was born! We looked a lot different way back then and our name has changed a little bit. But other than that we’re doing the same thing we wanted to do a decade ago — share our love of animation with other fans. Leading up to the actual anniversary date this Friday, we’re going to be taking a look back at the site’s journey. But before that, we want to thank all of our readers, without whom we would not have lasted a year! This milestone has re-energized us, and we’re working on some new ideas that will hopefully take us into our second decade!

I know a lot of you have been with us for a lot of that time -- and some even before then back in the animated-movies.com days! Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the past 10 years. And for you old-timers, let us know how long you've been with us!

Thanks for all the great reviews, news and writings guys! You're site is actually what inspired me to make film criticism as my occupation, and I truly appreciate you for such inspiration. Can't wait to see what brilliance you guys will accomplish next!

I love all things cinema, from silent movies to world cinema to animated cinema to big blockbusters to documentaries and everything in between!

Happy birthday AV! It's always been tons of fun coming here, great people and great articles. I've been around since about 2002 when the site was still Animated Movies, then registered in 2004. Always have a great time here, and like Lotso said the site is very inspiring, with dense criticism and well-written reviews. It truly does not compare to anything else on the web. Here's to you AV!

"That’s right, folks, it’s gonna be a Meg episode, stick around for the fun.
Here’s the clicker...no one’d blame ya.”

Check out this archive of our themed logos that we used to do for holidays and movies. There's a never-before-seen-except-by-staffers bonus logo at the end of the slideshow we never used and didn't post in the logo thread!

I recall that the (pre-forum) Animated-News site (or perhaps it might've still been Animated-Movies, then) actually gave me my first lesson in watching what I say about stuff as an industry insider, online:

While working at Rhythm & Hues on an ad campaign for The Cat in the Hat, I met an animator who had been freshly hired away from Pixar. Keep in mind that this was 'early-2000s, red-hot on-the-rise, can-do-no-wrong' Pixar..! So, of course, I and a few of my colleagues were curious about why anyone would want to leave such a magical place to work on movies like TCitH, of all things. Turns out that it was because junior artists there had little opportunity for upward career mobility at the time (it may be still that way there; I dunno) .. and this guy figured he could get the supervisory experience he desired more easily at a smaller studio like R+H.

Anyway .. soon after, there was a discussion thread on the Animation Nation forum (which was my main online hangout, at the time) about Pixar's runaway success streak. And I made a cautionary comment that went something to the effect of "there may be some structural problems there which could eventually lead to a talent drain similar to Disney's in the late 1990s." Which, yeah -- was a reeeally irresponsible thing for me to say on a public 'animation-professional' industry forum .. especially since I was in a position of next-to-zero 'inside' knowledge or authority on the situation, other than a casual conversation with a Pixar ex-pat.

So, imagine my horror when -- the very next day -- that comment appeared as a quote attributed to "droosan on Animation Nation" in an item on the Animated-News website..! But, it was my own fault for saying such a stupidly speculative thing in the first place.

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I joined the Animated-News Forum shortly after its creation. I made a couple of comments that first year, but mostly 'lurked' otherwise. I guess this was because Animation Nation was the forum where I actually 'knew' the people I was discussing things with.

Anyway, in one of those early posts I'd made a comment about having worked with some Bluth alumni, and Meg pointedly asked me, "where do you work, droosan?" I answered in a PM since -- at that time -- I was working on development of James Cameron's Avatar (but that project wasn't quite green-lit yet and was something short of 'top secret'). Actually, because of this, I don't think I'd even mentioned that .. but I did reveal that I'd worked with those ex-Bluth studio artists while working on characters for Nickelodeon's Barnyard.

So, when Barnyard was released in 2006, Meg posted in the thread "Hey, didn't droosan work on this?" .. and that was what spurred me from 'occasional poster/mostly lurker' into a 'semi-regular member' of the Animated-News forum (although my post count continues to lag far behind most of the longtime regularly-posting members').

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As it happened, I was becoming increasingly disillusioned by constant negativity which was permeating Animation Nation at the time .. and so, gradually, the Animated-News Forum became my new 'default' online hang-out.

I've very much enjoyed talking 'cartoons-n-stuff' with all of you, over the years .. and hope to be doing so for many more..!

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Thanks for the posts of the various A-N / A-N&V logos, and the different site designs. It's been a trip down memory lane, for sure..!

Actually, I kinda liked the 'mustard-khaki' color of the early A-N site .. since it matched the colors used at Animation Nation, back then (though there were Nation users who hated the color there, too).

I was here back when it was Animated Movies, too, although I sadly was not a forum member (I discovered the site the day Return to Never Land came to theaters I think?). I also remember emailing at least one story to the site--which got posted--, but shortly after that it died. Then Animated News came along, and I also got some stories emailed there back in the day, with at least one getting posted (it was a description of the Pooh's Heffalump Movie teaser trailer...God, why do I remember that?).

Then I joined the forum in 2005, but didn't become fully "active" until later in the year, and really wasn't posting all the time until 2006 (Shy Vi probably remembers our friendly DreamWorks "debates" from that year). Finally in 2009, I got a PM from Ben asking if I wanted to become a staff member (just after the site's revamp), and I've been a proud news poster ever since.

As for the best year for animated movies...that was a real tough one. It was tempting to pick 2010 because it gave us both How To Train Your Dragon and Tangled--two of my favorite movies of all time--, but 2009 had Coraline, Up, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Disney's return to traditional animation. Even though I firmly believe that Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph are much better as movies than Frog ended up being, it was nevertheless a big "event" that couldn't be ignored, so that's how 2009 ultimately beat 2010--and 2006, for that matter--for my vote.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."

I had to ponder the 'best year for animated features' question for a bit, myself .. especially since my default answer to this question (when there is no range of years specified) is 1999 -- which brought us the 'power line-up' of The Iron Giant, Tarzan, Toy Story 2, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Princess Mononoke and Fantasia 2000.

However, since the choices were limited to the past ten years (and rightly so..!), I ultimately decided upon 2004 -- mostly on the strength of The Incredibles, Teacher's Pet and Shrek 2 .. although I did personally enjoy Shark Tale and Kaena: the Prophecy myself, as well (recognizing that others didn't). I think Team America: World Police was released that year, too.

Voting is over in our Best Animated Year poll. The runaway winner was the year 2010, with 44% of the vote. That year featured hits including How To Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Megamind, Tangled, and The Illusionist. The year 2009 came in a distant second place with 16% of the vote. And in third place was 2012 with 12%. You can see the full results here: